Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in shares of AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) by 0.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,890 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in AutoNation were worth $206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AutoNation by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,638,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,727,000 after purchasing an additional 229,169 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 2,957.8% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,175,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,578,000 after buying an additional 4,038,834 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,279,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,665,000 after buying an additional 79,834 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 175,288.8% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,090,635 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,142,000 after buying an additional 2,089,443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of AutoNation by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,975,458 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,553,000 after buying an additional 205,373 shares during the last quarter. 73.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

In related news, Director Robert R. Grusky sold 2,800 shares of AutoNation stock in a transaction on Friday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.99, for a total value of $109,172.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 30,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,197,499.87. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. ValuEngine downgraded AutoNation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 2nd. Northcoast Research upgraded AutoNation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $51.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, June 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on AutoNation from $57.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 9th. Deutsche Bank AG restated a “hold” rating and set a $46.00 price objective (down from $50.00) on shares of AutoNation in a report on Thursday, June 22nd. Finally, BidaskClub upgraded AutoNation from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, June 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.70.

Shares of AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE AN) opened at 47.68 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.87 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $42.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.95. AutoNation, Inc. has a one year low of $38.20 and a one year high of $53.74.

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.12). AutoNation had a net margin of 1.90% and a return on equity of 16.71%. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that AutoNation, Inc. will post $3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AutoNation announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 29th that allows the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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AutoNation Profile

AutoNation, Inc (AutoNation) is an automotive retailer in the United States. The Company offers a range of automotive products and services, including new vehicles, used vehicles, parts and service, which includes automotive repair and maintenance services, as well as wholesale parts and collision businesses, and automotive finance and insurance products, including vehicle service and other protection products, as well as the arranging of financing for vehicle purchases through third-party finance sources.

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